Nick Nurse has had two weeks of watching the Raptors work individually in Naples, Fla., and a week of practices in Orlando with the full squad. There’s still another week to go before his team gets on the court for a meaningless pretend game.
In this case, idle hands are the coach’s playground.
A creative basketball mind even during a hectic regular season, Nurse has been toying with rotations, on-court groupings, end-of-game scenarios, after-timeout play calls and different defensive looks before the NBA season restarts later this month.
With so much time before the games, Nurse needs to find ways to keep his team engaged.